Through Bakke's eyes

Whitefish artist James Bakke, much like

his idol Vincent van Gogh, is largely unknown but still widely

talented.

Bakke’s extensive work includes

portraits of friends and family, paintings and drawings of his

cats, still life, and landscapes of the Flathead Valley and Glacier

National Park. At age 80, Bakke has spent seven decades taking

photos and then turning those photos into art.

It’s a lifetime of work that Donna

Hopkins couldn’t let pass by without recognition. Hopkins

interviewed Bakke and put together a collection of his work into a

recently published book, “James R. Bakke — Montana Artist, from the

Prairie to Whitefish to Glacier National Park.”

Hopkins, a Bakke family friend, knew

that his work needed to be viewed by others even if Bakke himself

had no interest in it.

“He is so much a part of Montana

history,” she said. “He is such an unknown treasure.”

Hopkins describes Bakke as somewhat of

a recluse. His health has declined in recent years, but he still

continues to work when possible.

“He promoted his work some in the ‘60s

and ‘70s,” she said. “He was not a person to get involved in the

business side of art. He was interested in painting.”

Bakke was born in 1931 and raised on

1,000 acres of wheatland near Gildford. The youngest of nine

children, Bakke was more interested in drawing pictures than

working cattle.

The book opens with a black and white

photo taken of the Bakke family at their manor house in Gildford in

1918. On the opposite page is Bakke’s oil painting based on that

photo and completed in 1990. The painting takes the photo and

brings it to life with color and feeling.

“The prairie was his home and his

love,” Hopkins said.

Bakke moved to Whitefish at age 16 and

finished high school before taking a job for the Great Northern

Railway. His first paycheck from the railroad allowed him to

purchase a camera and take oil painting lessons in the late 1940s.

This would begin his work featuring Whitefish, the railway and

Glacier Park. Bakke worked for Great Northern for 33 years.

Bakke would take the photos and then

later transform them — sometimes many years later — into paintings.

He worked with a variety of media including pencil, crayons, pastel

and oil.

Some of the Whitefish paintings are

based on photos taken along the railroad line. When he worked,

Bakke would always carry a camera with him.

“He took photos on his lunch hour,”

Hopkins said.

One painting shows a stream flowing

through a pasture with horses. The painting was completed in 1993

and depicts the Kauffman home on Wild Rose Lane.

Bakke took thousands of photos and

hiked hundreds of miles in Glacier.

“The Highline Trail is far and away the

best trail in Glacier, therefore on this planet,” he says in the

book. “I’m not sure about Mars or Venus, but definitely this

planet.”

Bakke sat down with the Whitefish Pilot

in 2004. He said that real painting is about meaning.

“I want my pictures to be something

that ordinary and working people can understand,” he said at the

time. “It’s history. And history is just disappearing in this

valley.”

Hopkins met Bakke in 1979 when she

moved to Whitefish to live with her grandmother, Elizabeth Luding

Hopkins. Hopkins and Bakke, along with her grandmother and his

mother Serena, would make trips into Glacier Park together. The

elder women would visit over coffee while Hopkins and Bakke hiked

trails.

“He liked to go into the Park and he

liked to paint,” Hopkins said.

When Hopkins retired to Whitefish in

2005 she reconnected with Bakke and began to discover the depth of

his work. She began to interview Bakke and track down owners of his

paintings — he never kept a record of the paintings or who

purchased them. She self-published the book.

Reproductions of Bakke’s work fill the

pages of the book. In addition to the interviews, Hopkins combed

through Bakke’s files and used his writings in the book. Often

Bakke write notes about a particular scene on the back of his

artwork.

“It’s a picture book, but I wanted to

tell his story through his pictures and paintings,” she said. “I

wanted to tell it in his own words. He’s a wonderful writer. I

wanted people to feel like they know him.”

The book is organized into four parts

focusing on the prairie and Bakke’s early life, Whitefish and the

railroad, Glacier National Park and portraits.

His work also includes drawings and

paintings of his 37 “aristocats.” Bakke started his cat family at

age five and his family brought two cats with them to Whitefish. At

one time he had as many as 27 cats. He has two remaining from the

original line, Louie VIII and Nicholas V.

“James R. Bakke — Montana Artist, from

the Prairie to Whitefish to Glacier National Park” is available in

Whitefish at Bookworks and the Stumptown Historical Society.

Book signings

Hopkins will hold several book signing

events in the valley. A few of Bakke’s original pieces never seen

in public will be on display at the Whitefish and Bigfork

events.

Hopkins will be at Grouse Mountain

Lodge in Whitefish Thursday, June 23 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. She

will hold a signing the following day, Friday, June 24 at the

Bigfork Museum of Art and History from 5 to 8 p.m. A third event

will be in Kalispell at the Hockaday Museum of Art’s annual Wine

Tasting Event on Thursday, July 7 from 5 to 8 p.m.